


Trouble

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, First Kiss, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 01:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14509371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: Kaydel knew better than to get taken in by handsome flyboys who talked too much.She definitely knew better.





	Trouble

**Author's Note:**

  * For [igrockspock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/igrockspock/gifts).



> I loved the suggestion in your letter of Kaydel having previously been Leia’s assistant, so I’ve used that a little. I’ve fudged a bit and put the Resistance on D’Qar right when Poe joins, rather than the Echo of Hope like in Before the Awakening.

“Mirrin Prime?” Kaydel asked, fingertip poised above her datapad. “If you don’t mind me asking, General, what the hell is on Mirrin Prime?”

Leia’s mouth twitched in good humor. “Nothing much, honestly. A New Republic Naval base. A troublesome pilot I think would fit right in here with us.”

“It’s a recruiting mission, then?” That made sense. The First Order continued to become more brazen and yet the Senate remained obstinate in their insistence that the threat was not a threat at all. The Resistance could use an influx of new blood.

“More an intervention, you could say. I’m afraid this particular pilot has just made his superiors very irate.”

Kaydel arched an eyebrow. “That’s the sort of pilot you want?”

“Oh, absolutely. He pushes where he shouldn’t in pursuit of admirable goals. He takes risks and he thinks in ways most don’t. He’s exactly what we need.”

“If you say so, General.” Kaydel had learned many things about Leia Organa since she had first worked for her in the Senate, one of which was that she was an excellent judge of character. If she believed in this troublemaker pilot, he was likely worth believing in. “I’ll find a room for him.”

Leia nodded in approval. “I’ll send him straight to you when we arrive.” She paused. “Provided he takes my offer, of course.”

Kaydel had the feeling there wasn’t a chance in hell he wouldn’t.

-

“Kaydel Ko Connix?”

Kaydel glanced away from her monitors. She wasn’t sure exactly what she had expected of Leia’s troublemaker pilot, but it wouldn’t have been the thirty-something, dark-haired man with a face that looked more suited to the holodramas she watched in her free time with Pamich than to military service who was currently standing in front of her.

“Yes?” she said, just in case Leia had been expecting some other new arrival that she had forgotten to mention. (Leia never forgot to mention anything that wasn’t on purpose.) 

“I’m Poe, Poe Dameron.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Are you Kaydel? General Organa told me to ask for you.”

“I’m Kaydel.”

“Great. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand, so Kaydel shook it. “She said to tell you my squad-- er, the rest of my squad, Karé and Iolo, they’ll be arriving on the next shuttle. So they’ll need rooms, too. But she said you were expecting me?”

Kaydel stood, and Poe raised his eyes a little higher. “I guess you didn’t turn her down after all.”

“Honestly I don’t know who says no to Leia Organa. Besides, this alternative was definitely preferable to my future in the Navy. Turns out they don’t so much like it when you disobey orders.”

“Really. How surprising.”

“I know, right?” Poe had a wide, cheerful smile and the sort of lines on his face that made Kaydel think he smiled a lot. 

Kaydel tried not to smile back but she thought she succeeded very poorly. “Come on, then,” she said, waving Poe along with her. “Commanders get private rooms, even rule-breaking ones.”

“Fancy.”

She led Poe up the stairs from the command center out into the sunshine of D’Qar. There was a round orange and white astromech waiting there who beeped loudly and rapidly in binary at the sight of Poe.

“Let’s go, buddy,” Poe said, presumably to the droid. He hoisted a bag that had been on the ground beside the droid up over his shoulder. “Kaydel’s taking us to our new quarters.”

The droid beeped again and Poe chuckled. To Kaydel he said, “This is Beebee-Ate. He’s my partner, keeps me out of trouble.”

Not all trouble, clearly, Kaydel thought to herself. “Hello.” She didn’t understand binary but she assumed the droid’s response was a greeting. 

When Kaydel took them inside to the living quarters, BB-8 rolled down the steps with a loud thud as he hit each one. Kaydel had an absurd desire to laugh, though she had no idea why. The droid was weirdly cute and so was Poe’s affection for it.

“So what do you do around here?” Poe asked. “Whatever the general asks?”

“Everyone around here does whatever the general asks, but officially I’m an operations controller. I used to work for General Organa, though, when she was Senator Organa, so I still assist her with logistical concerns. Arranging accommodations, monitoring supplies, that sort of thing.”

“Sounds like a lot.”

Kaydel shrugged. “I like to keep busy.” Coming upon the correct room, she pressed her hand to the controls and the door slid open.

It was modest, like the other officers’ quarters, just a bed, a desk, a chair. No windows, as they were underground. BB-8 rolled in and went about inspecting the place. 

“What d’you think, pal?” Poe asked, dropping his bag to the floor before sitting on the bed and bouncing a little to test the mattress. He made a face at the stiffness of it, presumably. Kaydel’s own mattress was awful, anyway.

BB-8 chirped.

Poe smiled at Kaydel. “We accept.”

“Well, great,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “Because it’s this or the barracks.”

He laughed. “No special treatment, huh?”

“The general thinks you’re the sort of trouble the Resistance needs, but you’re not about to be trouble for me. I’ve got enough to do.”

“Fair. So does that mean you’re too busy to give me a tour? Or should I just wander around and try not to get lost?”

Kaydel did not find his smile charming in the least. “I suppose the general wouldn’t be too pleased if I let you get lost on your first day.”

“I’d honestly love your company, but you can tell me if I’m being pushy and you’ve got a minion better suited to showing me around.”

“Unfortunately I have no minions, but I really don’t mind.” Kaydel eyed him pointedly. “Though if you keep stalling you’re going to use up the available time I have.”

Poe sprang up immediately. “Hold the fort, Beebee-Ate, I’ll fill you in when I return.” The droid beeped at him as Poe offered Kaydel his arm. “May I have the honor?”

She rolled her eyes and walked out, knowing he would follow. He was easy company, cheerful and friendly, and he asked a lot of questions but always listened to the answers. He was keen on learning base procedures and how they differed from his time in the Navy and he lingered in the hangar, ogling the ships. Eventually Kaydel had to push him along, as nerdy as any pilot she had ever met.

She left him to get his standard pilot’s gear, flight suit, vest, all the rest, but he said, “Hey, Kaydel. Will you sit with me at dinner? So I don’t look too obviously like the new guy?”

“Everyone knows you’re the new guy. Doesn’t matter who sits with you.”

“Yeah, but if you sit with me then I’ll look like I fit in.”

Kaydel was pretty sure Poe looked like he fit in no matter where he was; he was just that sort of person. “I’ll think about it.”

“I’ll take it,” Poe said, and offered her that big smile again.

It absolutely did not make Kaydel’s heartbeat quicken just a pinch as she turned away because Kaydel knew better than to get taken in by handsome flyboys who talked too much.

She definitely knew better.

-

Kaydel was right about Poe being the sort of person who fit in everywhere; he slotted himself into the Resistance like he had always been there. It helped that he was really an amazing pilot, just what they needed, and it helped that he knew a few people already through the Navy, like Snap Wexley and Joph Seastriker. The old guard, like Admiral Ackbar, had fond memories of his parents from the Rebellion and then there was L’ulo, whom Poe sometimes teasingly called ‘uncle’. Everyone else, he won over with his gregarious charm and willingness to help.

“I think he’s the prettiest man I’ve ever seen,” Rose said over lunch, earnest enough to make Kaydel laugh a little. “My sister says he’s a cocky flyboy.”

“She’s right,” Kaydel agreed. “A truer word was never spoken.”

“He smiles at you a lot.”

“He smiles at everyone.”

“Not like that,” Rose insisted. “If a boy smiled at me like that, I think I’d die.”

“Well, he can smile all he wants. I’ve got enough cocky flyboys to deal with.” Knowing that the surest way to redirect a conversation with Rose was to mention Paige, Kaydel said, “How is your sister? I haven’t had a chance to talk to her in a while.”

“Amazing! She’s spending so much extra time in the simulator; she always says she’s a good pilot but not a great one, and she wants to be a great one. She’s great already, of course, but she doesn’t see it like that.”

Which, Kaydel thought, sounded an awful lot like the way Paige talked about Rose.  _ We all believe in Rose but she doesn’t believe in herself,  _ Paige would tell her.  _ Just because she’s not much of a pilot she thinks she’s not worth anything, when she’s the smartest girl I know. _

“Practice is good for everybody,” Kaydel said. “Even the best. Maybe she just needs to build up her own confidence.”

“I guess,” Rose said, dragging her fork through a mound of bland mashed protein. They needed their fresh supply shipment to come in. “I just wish she saw herself like I see her.”

Kaydel smiled. “I’m sure she thinks the same thing about you.”

Rose brushed that off with a huff of laughter and the sweetest blush in her cheeks.

-

Poe’s first significant mission for the Resistance involved the acquisition of a luxury yacht from a senator Leia believed to be working with the First Order. He returned victorious and exuberant and it didn’t take long for the tales to start flying all over base, how he and his navy pilots, Iolo and Karé, had evaded several detachment of TIEs and two Star Destroyers, the First Order come to their traitor’s aid.

Kaydel found Poe later, a little drunk, his friends finally gone to bed. “Everyone’s talking about you and your old Rapier Squadron,” she said, sliding into a chair across from him in the canteen.

Poe raised a glass to her, switched to water now. “As they should be. A couple of rust buckets and a pleasure yacht up against the First Order, and here we are.”

“Completely modest.”

“As always.”

“You know you’re crazy, right?”

“I’ve been told a time or two.”

Kaydel watched him, something serious hiding in his dark eyes despite his outward good humor. “You seem a little down for someone who’s just pulled off a stunt like that.”

Poe shrugged and gulped his water. “Just thinking, I guess.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“It’s just… He was a senator. Not even a former senator, but someone who’s right at the heart of our government, buried deep, and the First Order came in mass to save his ass. Failing that, they were willing to blow up that whole ship to keep us from finding the data on his computers.”

None of this came as a surprise to Kaydel. If she hadn’t had all the details on this particular instance yet, it wasn’t anything new compared to what they’d been dealing with all along. Corruption in the Senate was rampant. It was a major contributing factor to Leia starting the Resistance in the first place. “You’re surprised?”

“I’m mad as hell. We’re letting the First Order win, tolerating traitors, ignoring them like they aren’t there. I should have been here years ago, instead of wasting my time on nothing patrols.” He clenched his fist around his glass. “I joined the Navy to help, but I wasn’t helping. The Navy isn’t helping. We need to fight.”

“What do you think we’re doing here?”

“But is it enough?” Poe waved his hand around. “This is hardly an army. A few squadrons of old model X-wings and a handful of cruisers is nothing compared to what I’ve seen of the First Order.”

“Leia is doing the best she can,” Kaydel said, grinding it out from between her teeth. How dare this  _ pilot -  _

“No, you misunderstand me. I’ve got no problem with Leia, believe me. She’s the only one willing to do a fucking thing. All I mean is, we need a hell of a lot more beings to start buying what she’s selling. Far too many are brushing her off as a troublemaker, a warmonger, inventing problems where there aren’t any. The First Order gets stronger while we fight amongst ourselves, denying the threat.”

“Welcome to the Resistance, Poe Dameron,” Kaydel said, and squeezed Poe’s hand across the table. 

He huffed, something between a laugh and a sigh, and squeezed back.

-

“I have a lead I’ve asked Poe to follow up on,” Leia told Kaydel one evening, not long after Poe returned with the stolen  _ Hevurion Grace. _ “He’s hand-picking a team to help him. It’s… sensitive, so it’s need to know. But I’d like you to be aware, should he or I need any assistance.”

“Of course, General,” Kaydel said, aware of the measure of trust Leia was showing towards her. “Anything you need.”

“He’s looking for my brother.”

Kaydel’s eyes widened but she stayed quiet. Luke Skywalker had been nothing more than stories and rumors for years.

“The First Order is looking for him,” Leia said, nothing in her tone or her face to betray her true feelings on the matter. “Of course we need to find him first. This will be Poe’s primary focus until my brother stands before me, or until he fails.”

“I don’t think Poe fails very often.”

“No, I don’t think he does.” Leia smiled very faintly. “And he wouldn’t like to disappoint me.”

Kaydel smiled back. Poe’s hero worship of Leia was obvious and rather adorable. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“Thank you, Kaydel.”

-

Mostly Kaydel’s involvement ended up being the voice over comms sending Poe and his squad off on missions and the voice welcoming him home again. (Though she did arrive at the means of getting him broken into a prison, which she was rather proud of, even if it had gone south very quickly.) It became almost soothing, the frequent refrain, Poe’s warm voice. “Black Leader, seeking permission to land.” 

He always sounded exhausted, but with that thread of good humor, his eternal optimism. It was strangely reassuring, and Kaydel knew she wasn’t the only one to think so. Poe was a benefit, and not only for his flying.

But even Poe had his bad days, and not all his victories were complete ones. He went on a mission without his team based on intel from C-3PO, and it all went rather terribly. He ended up crashed on a planet in the middle of nowhere, nearly died, and lost one of his pilots.

There was no cheery refrain over comms when he returned to base this time.

She went to visit him in the infirmary, where he was sitting on one of the beds, the med droids having apparently just finished tending to him. Kaydel wasn’t sure exactly how Poe had ended up with a knife through his palm but it seemed he had.

Poe looked over at her, raising his hand and wiggling his fingers. “Good as new, huh?”

Kaydel took his hand, smoothing her fingers over the nearly perfectly healed skin, only a thin line on either side of his hand to show where he had been stabbed. “I’m sorry about L’ulo.”

“Yeah, me, too.”

“Did you get what you wanted?”

“Suppose it depends. Beat the bad guys, but the intel I was searching for was only a trap and I’m no closer to finding Lor San Tekka than I was when Leia first tasked me with finding him. No closer to Skywalker.” Poe was quiet, but he had the look of someone who wasn’t finished.

Kaydel waited.

“The First Order,” Poe said, “they just take and take. The New Republic pretends like they don’t exist and meanwhile, they’re out there growing stronger, taking and taking, while we scramble around trying not to lose.”

“They didn’t get everything. You may not have found Lor San Tekka but neither have they, and they didn’t take you.” Kaydel was still holding his hand, thumb rubbing over his skin.

“Well, I’m not so easy to take.” He was watching her, brown eyes moving up from her hands to her face.

Kaydel felt suddenly warm, like she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t. She released his hand and took a step back, speaking to ease the heavy mood. “Think they’d regret it if they did, anyway. It’s impossible to shut you up.”

He smiled finally. “Some people might like that.”

“Really? I’m afraid I can’t see the appeal.”

“Give it some time. I’ll grow on you.”

For some inexplicable reason, Kaydel was thinking of Rose saying,  _ If a boy smiled at me like that, I think I’d die.  _ She brushed the backs of her fingers over the side of Poe’s head. “Get some rest. You’re so tired you’re delusional.”

She went into the corridor with the sound of Poe’s laughter in her ears, and she thought it had been a long time since she had heard such a welcome sound.

After a few steps she nearly collided with BB-8, racing towards the infirmary. “Keep an eye on him, okay?” she said.

Kaydel didn’t understand binary, but she recognized BB-8’s indignance all the same, as though the little droid was offended Kaydel thought he needed to be told to watch over Poe. She smiled all the way back to the command center.

-

Poe was perched on Leia’s desk as Kaydel sat at it, poring over inventory logs and making calculations as to how far they could stretch their fuel. “You’re good at this datawork stuff,” he said.

“I suppose.”

“I hate it. Least favorite part of the Navy was all the write-ups and requisitions forms and all that boring stuff. At least Leia lets me do most of it in person, never mind the datawork.”

“I’m incredibly shocked that you dislike sitting at a desk with a datapad.”

Poe laughed. “So how’d you end up doing all this?”

Kaydel chewed on her fingernail before her making herself stop. “I like numbers, I guess. I like keeping things order and making everything fit, like a puzzle. I was the oldest of five and my parents were… flighty. I got good at juggling schedules and making sure everyone was fed and sleeping properly. It was a good set of skills to have when I went to work for Leia.”

“And you were so good at it she just kept you?”

“Well, it was a mutual decision.” Kaydel frowned down at her datapad. 

“Not good?”

“Let’s just say we’re cutting it close.”

“I love the smell of desperation,” Poe said, shifting a little. Kaydel was absolutely not watching his thighs out of the corner of her eye. “I have a feeling I know what I’m gonna be doing next.”

“The general’s really going to need that shipment,” Kaydel agreed.

“Hey,” Poe said, and hopped down. “You’re good at numbers, I’m good at flying under pressure.”

“I think you just like playing the hero. The worse the odds, the better it looks when you succeed.”

“You said it, not me,” Poe said with a truly appalling wink that didn’t make Kaydel want to smile at all.

That was why she didn’t know why she wanted to blush when Leia came in, gaze moving between Poe and Kaydel, one eyebrow lifting. It wasn’t like Kaydel had been doing anything. (She was glad Poe had gotten his ass off the desk, though.)

“General,” Poe said, moving around her and out of the door.

“Poe,” Leia said, and then looked at Kaydel once he was gone. “Why does he look like he’s been up to no good?”

“I think that’s just his face, General.” Kaydel carefully schooled her expression into seriousness, though she was certain Leia wasn’t fooled.

“Let’s keep your flirting outside my office from now on,” Leia said, not without a hint of teasing in her tone. “Now please give me good news.”

Kaydel looked at her datapad and then proceeded to relay her very not good news.

Sometimes she wished she were the one who got to sweep in and play the hero.

-

Kaydel loved the nights on D’Qar, the clear, starry skies, the pleasant but not overwhelming warmth. She liked to take walks sometimes before she went to bed, when she had the time, to clear her head and enjoy the solitude. The jungle was never quiet, a constant, reassuring buzz of wind through the leaves, insects, small animals scuttling, birds singing.

This particular evening, Kaydel found Poe near the tarmac, lying on his back on the ground, hands pillowed behind his head. BB-8 was near him, chattering, as Poe laughed.

Solitude didn’t seem so important, actually, as Kaydel considered it, so she sat beside Poe and said, “Is it okay if I join you?”

“What d’you think, Beebee-Ate?” Poe asked, a gentle upward tilt to his lips. “Think she’s welcome?”

The droid said something that made Poe’s cheeks redden slightly but in response he only said, “Make yourself comfortable, Kaydel, you’ve got the seal of approval.”

Kaydel slid down to mimic Poe, her back on the grass, though she left her arms folded across her middle. “Thank you, Beebee-Ate.”

It was unusual for Poe to be quiet, but the silence lingered, not uncomfortably, until Kaydel said, “The general says she’s expecting word from Lor San Tekka any day now.”

“Yeah,” Poe agreed. “I hope he’ll have what we need.”

_ Luke Skywalker.  _ He seemed almost a myth now. Kaydel wondered if he could truly save them. It seemed like a lot to put on one man. “And then you’ll go to play the hero.”

“Well, more like the messenger. It’s all really just information retrieval.”

“Exciting.”

“I could get shot at. I’ve been shot at lots of times trying to complete this mission.”

“I’m aware.” Kaydel wondered if it was a pilot thing, to be so cavalier about near death, or if it was just a Poe thing. 

“Don’t tell me you’re worried about me,” Poe teased. “Didn’t know you cared.”

She should joke back. She should. She wanted to.

She said nothing.

“Kaydel,” Poe said, bringing his arm down to brush his fingers over the back of her wrist. “I probably won’t get shot at. He was heading to Jakku. There’s nothing on Jakku.”

Kaydel could feel Poe’s eyes on the side of her face. She couldn’t look at him. “I know.”

Poe shifted over onto an elbow, lightly touching his knuckles to her cheek. “I didn’t know…” He hesitated and seemed to change his mind about whatever he had been going to say. “I’ll have Beebee-Ate. You know he keeps me out of trouble.”

BB-8 chirped what Kaydel knew to be an affirmative, a little bit of binary she had picked up.

She didn’t know what she was doing, why she was being like this, why this ball of dread was forming in her belly. It was only Poe, and he was always fine.

Kaydel caught Poe’s hand in hers and held it. “I’m counting on you, Beebee-Ate,” she said, and looked up at the stars.

There was no need for worry.

-

Kaydel intercepted the communications from the First Order when they arrived in Jakku space, and told General Organa. “It’s the  _ Finalizer, _ ” she said, “above Jakku. General Hux’s Star Destroyer.”

“Thank you, Kaydel,” Leia said, and there was nothing they could do.

There was nothing Kaydel could do but wait, and monitor the frequencies. She was first to know when the reports came in of the attack on the village, and she was there when General Organa was informed that Poe’s X-wing had been found, destroyed, with no trace of Poe or BB-8. 

There was nothing Kaydel could do, and she knew that if Poe wasn’t dead, he would be soon.

_ There’s nothing on Jakku,  _ she remembered Poe saying, softly reassuring, so surprised that she cared. She remembered how his palm had felt against hers.

Kaydel returned to her monitors and scoured the HoloNet for any mention of an orange and white BB model astromech.

One of a kind.

-

It was Kaydel who got the message from Kes Dameron on Yavin 4, and it was Kaydel who told Leia that Poe was alive, safe, and on his way.

This time when Leia said, “Thank you, Kaydel,” it was genuine, and her tired, relieved smile was very, very real.

Kaydel didn’t try to hide her wide grin.

Even better was the sight of an incoming X-wing on their radar, and that comfortable, familiar refrain echoing into Kaydel’s ear. “Base command, this is Black Leader, seeking permission to land.”

Kaydel was proud of the way her voice didn’t shake. “Permission granted, Black Leader. Welcome back.”

The only note stronger than exhaustion in Poe’s voice was his habitual warmth. “Copy that. Thanks, command. It’s good to be back.”

When Poe landed, he came immediately to see Leia, arm-in-arm with Karé, and he winked over at Kaydel when he slid from Karé’s grip to let himself into Leia’s office. Karé gave her a wave before she went back out, and Kaydel focused hard on her monitors.

She wasn’t thinking about Poe, not at all.

Except when Poe came back out, Kaydel couldn’t stop herself. She muttered an excuse to Pamich and leaped up, hurrying up the steps after Poe.

“Poe!” she said, and he stopped and turned, framed against the jungle in the near distance. His features eased into a smile, like he was genuinely happy to see her.

Kaydel moved a bit closer. He looked clean, like he had showered on Yavin 4, and he was wearing a different jacket. His hair was a mess of curls and he had clearly not enjoyed his time in First Order captivity, judging by the dark circles around his eyes and the cuts and bruises on his face.

She reached up, fingers stroking his cheek, and Poe loosely held her wrist.

“Kaydel,” he said, and there was so much Kaydel wanted to ask him, wanted to say to him, but her mouth felt dry and she couldn’t quite sort out the words in her head.

Instead she leaned up on her toes and kissed him.

Poe tugged her hand around to the back of his neck, settling it there, and grabbed her hip with his free hand. He pressed into her, kissing her with his mouth open like it was something he had wanted to do for a long time, maybe as long as Kaydel had, though she wasn’t sure she had consciously realized it until now. 

He was breathing a little fast when he blinked down at her, somehow with both his hands rucked up into the back of her shirt. “If I’d known this was the reaction I’d get, I’d have almost died a long time ago.”

Kaydel shoved his chest, though she felt bad about it when he winced faintly. “Seems like you almost die nearly every time you leave base.”

“That’s not fair, sometimes I just get captured.”

His hands were still warm against Kaydel’s back and she knew there wasn’t any time; she knew she had to get back inside and she knew that Poe needed to get prepped for his flight. Takodana, where they would find BB-8, recover him before the First Order did because there was no other option, and Poe could finish the mission he had nearly died for. She needed to do her duty and he needed to do his, but somehow it felt difficult to let him go.

She kissed him again, because he was here, alive, solid and firm in her arms, and she needed this. Something that was hers, even if she didn’t quite know what it was yet. Crazy, reckless Poe with his big mouth and his good heart, the sort of troublemaker they needed. He held her tightly enough that Kaydel thought maybe he needed this, too, to know that he was alive.

Kaydel pulled back when she tasted blood, Poe’s split lip reopening, and she touched her fingertip to his mouth. “Sorry,” she said, but he shook his head.

“Don’t apologize for that.” He gently took her hips and pushed her back. “Can we continue this when I get back? Please?”

“Consider it an incentive to not die,” Kaydel said, which made Poe give her that wide, cheerful grin she loved.

“I only almost die, remember. Don’t insult me.”

Kaydel laughed and brushed her hand over his cheek one more time before she turned around to head back inside the command center.

She considered that maybe she was a little crazy, too, and that maybe one more flyboy was exactly what she needed.


End file.
